Historical political cooperation between the EU and India has been characterized by benign neglect and unfulfilled potential. The risks associated with climate change presents potential avenues for stepping up EU-India cooperation and recalibrating political relations in an increasingly volatile international environment. This policy brief discusses how “Brussels” and “New Delhi” can work together beyond their own domestic transitions to reduce risks and enhance security across the wider regions.

 Ayan Mahamoud (PhD) works for the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a Regional Economic Community of the African Union. She was the IGAD Drought Disaster Resilience and Sustainability Initiative (IDDRSI) Coordinator for Regional Programming between 2014 and 2017. As part of her work, she coordinated and facilitated regional programming tasks within IDDRSI, a 15-year, over $700 Million, 8 country regional programme and the associated national programmes.

The European Union has recently started in earnest to climate-mainstream its defence and security sectors. It published a Climate Change & Defence Roadmap and the external dimension of the EU Green Deal recognises climate action as a contributor to peace and stability, for instance in the rather unstable European neighbourhood. The EU aims to climate-proof its military and civilian defence missions, as calls for disaster and humanitarian assistance are rising globally, and it is seeking to include green innovation more prominently in defence investments and R&D.

In June, the Planetary Security Initiative (PSI) team of the Clingendael Institute, together with the Netherlands Embassy to Iraq and the local partner Ozon, organized its first hybrid workshop in Basra, Iraq.

On June 10, the European Parliament published an in-depth analysis titled, ‘Preparing the CSDP for the new security environment created by climate change’.  Commissioned by the European Parliament's Subcommittee on Security & Defence, this study explores th